The Lupins
by Benjamin Linus
Summary: Deathly Hallows spoilers. Canon, except with one twist.  This is the story of Remus, Nymphadora, and Teddy Lupin. Chapter 12 up!
1. Working, or Lack of

What if Remus and Tonks didn't die? Then I wouldn't have sobbed for an hour. Honestly, was it necessary to kill both of them? Anyway, everything else is canon.

I don't own anything. J.K. Rowling, the favorite character slayer owns it all.

Nymphadora Lupin, or Tonks as she was generally called, sat at her desk, filling out paperwork. Well, she was supposed to be filling out paperwork. In reality, she was chewing on her quill (She had stopped using normal quills after she had developed the habit, she now used sugar quills supplied by George Weasley) and staring at one of her many photos of her husband Remus, her son Teddy, and occasionally one that she appeared in. Harry appeared in quite a few.

Tonk's favorite photo of the bunch was one she had taken a month ago while Remus and Teddy were taking a nap on the couch, Teddy on Remus' stomach, holding onto a stuffed wolf, and sporting bright green hair. Remus' hair was quite short for him; Tonks had made it her mission to cut his hair as soon as the war ended. She had tried cutting it; she had to have Molly Weasley tidy it up before she allowed Remus to look in a mirror.

"You know Tonks, you should seriously get some photos of your kid to show around," a deep voice said from the door of her cubicle.

Tonks turned to face Kingsley Shacklebolt, who was looking at the mass amounts of photos that covered her cubicle walls. "If you say so, Mr. Minister," she replied sarcastically. Even though he had been Minister of Magic for less than a week (Before being replaced by Percy Weasley in an election, who was proving to be the best Minister of Magic in Tonks' lifetime, much to the joy of the Weasley family, most of who were still amazed by his amazing turnaround back to them), Tonks never let him forget. She reminded him of it so much; she doubted anyone had ever been more embarrassed of holding the position.

She sighed. "Not the job it used to be, huh? We used to go out on missions, now we're paid huge sums of money to fill out paperwork to make sure the middle names of Azkaban prisoners are recorded."

"If you don't like collecting large paychecks, I can do something about that."

"You know what I mean," Tonks said, rolling her eyes.

Kinsley looked behind him. "You know, it'd be alright if you head home a little early, maybe four-ish. Just don't tell anyone." Tonks smiled sneakily. "Don't tell me, you've been leaving early already."

"Maaaaaaybe."

It was Kingley's turn to roll his eyes. "How's Remus?"

"Never better. He's the ultimate stay home dad." She paused. "Horace Slughorn's been providing Wolfsbane potion, he has been for a while." She smiled. "I think Teddy makes more of a difference than the potion. He makes Remus seem so much younger."

Kingsley nodded. "How old's little Teddy now?"

"One and a half. He's getting better at controlling his metamorphosing."

"Does he have a favorite hair style?"

"Red and yellow, spiked. He's a true Gryffindor, just like his amazing Godfather," a new voice cut in.

"And his parents. Wotcher, Harry."

Kingsley rolled his eyes once again, and left, calling to Tonks, "You can nip out earlier legally now, but no earlier than four."

"How come you get to leave early?" Harry asked jokingly.

"Oh, come off it," she replied, equally joking. "I thought Ginny didn't come home from Saint Mungo's until pretty late."

"She does, they really drill those healers. Her training to give potions and learn countercurses is harder than my dark wizard fighting training was. But then again," he added as an afterthought, "Once you destroy Voldemort, everything is a piece of cauldron cake."

Tonks continued the popular use of eye-rolling. "You're just as cocky as Remmy says James was." She blushed.

Harry smirked.

"Well, what do you call Ginny?" Tonks demanded playfully. "And what does Ginny call you?"

"How's my Godson?" Harry said quickly. Everyday he asked how Teddy was doing.

"Well, this morning he had a spectacular fall, he was just toddling into the kitchen and then he tripped. He hit his nose on the floor, it was gushing. Thankfully, I have experience in nose-mending," she said with a smirk of her own. "He's got my metamorphosing and klutziness, and we're pretty sure he has Remus' intelligence. We really were lucky he didn't get Remus'- ,"

"Furry little problem?" Harry added, smiling.

"Exactly."

"Say hi to Remus for me, and tickle Teddy a bit as well," Harry said, turning to leave.

"Tell Ginny I say wotcher."

"Done."

Tonks turned her chair back to her desk. _Two more hours_, she thought, looking at her watch.

At three fifty-nine, Nymphadora appeared with a loud _pop _in the living room. Remus was asleep, on the couch. Teddy was on top of him, cuddling Moony, his stuffed wolf. Both of them had slept through Tonks' apparation. This was not an uncommon scene.

She started tickling the green-haired Teddy's tummy. He giggled a bit and squirmed, waking Remus from under him.

Remus blinked then smiled.

"We've had a busy day," he said, motioning to the pile of picture books and a chocolate bar wrapper. Tonks had forgotten to mention Remus' chocolate addiction to Harry in the list of inherited traits. But Harry had definitely figured that out.

Remus picked up the still asleep Teddy and handed him to Tonks while he stretched. Tonks felt something wet, and realized it was coming from the bottom of Teddy's Weird Sisters onesie. Tonks felt part of Remus' red Weasley sweater that looked darker than the rest. Remus noticed it as well.

"I'll throw this in the wash, then get started on dinner. Grilled cheese and tomato soup sound good?" He asked. As Tonks burned toast, Remus cooked just about every meal. He was quite good at it, too. Tonks thought he could even rival Molly Weasley.

"Sounds perfect. I'll give Teddy a bath before dinner, he seems really wet, and he seems to have chocolate all over." Teddy had chocolate on his chin, hands, and all over his face.

They both seemed to have the same thought at the same time. In a second, both of their lips were on both of Teddy's chocolate-coated cheeks.

Reviews rock even more than the Weird Sisters!


	2. Brooms and Birthdays

You guys rock as much as denial (Which is a lot, based on my opinion and Momo's)! Thanks for all the reviews! You've inspired me to give you two chapters in one day! (Don't get used to it) Anyway, Rowling the couple killer owns everything.

"Harry," Nymphadora Lupin said to her son's godfather after watching her three year old Teddy unwrap a kids' broomstick, "I want you to know you've just endangered the health of your godson."

"Aww, he'll be fine," protested.

"Do you have any idea how bad his flying genes are? I'm terrible, and Remus, well…tell Harry your story about first year flying lessons."

Remus looked up at Tonks from where he sat on the floor next to Teddy. He picked up his paper plate upon which sat a slice of chocolate frosted chocolate cake that he had baked for Teddy's third birthday party. He took a large bite and chewed slowly while everyone in the room (Nymphadora, Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, George, Bill, Fleur, and Andromeda, even Teddy and infant Victoire) watched with great interest. He finally swallowed.

"I had never been on an actual broom, in the air before," He recalled. "I had always been scared of heights. I was worse than Wormtail, even."

"How bad was he?" Ron asked.

"Well, when we were calling our brooms up, his squirmed a bit, then came up and knocked him out," Remus said to a room half-full of laughter, while the others shuddered, trying to imagine how bad he was.

"Could someone have told me this before I lost an ear?" George asked humorously. Ginny, who was sitting between Harry and George, took out her wand and used it to pick up a forkful of cake from George's plate, and levitate it with great force straight into his mouth. Purple haired Teddy laughed and walked over to Ginny with his hand raised. High-fives were Teddy's current phase. Ginny high-fived him, laughing.

"Anyway," Remus continued, smiling. "I had called my broom up alright, not as quickly as James and Sirius, but at the about average time. Well, we all kicked off and hovered, and then flew around the pitch slowly. I was doing alright, once again not as great as Sirius and James, who were doing dives and stunts whenever Madam Hooch looked away." He paused, drawing breath. "Well, since flying over the Quidditch pitch is a direct route to the owlery, there were lots of owls flying over us. I felt something wet and smelly drop onto me, and I lost control of my broom and flew extremely fast straight at one of the hoops."

The room had cracked up. Teddy was laughing along, not quite sure at what was so funny.

"I woke up three hours later in the infirmary, with James, Sirius, and Wormtail standing over my bed. James had managed to save the owl poop, and he handed it to me in a plastic bag as a joke. Sirius joked that he would someday use to owl poop the track down the bird that pooped on me, and eat him alive while he was in dog form. That was later, of course, after he became an animagus." He paused and grinned. "The nicknames were horrible. For the rest of the year, Slytherins referred to me as 'Remus Poopin'. Once in a while they'd forget it, but soon after they'd remember. I think Severus was behind that. James and Sirius even made a bet on who could hex more Slytherins for calling me that."

"Who won?" George asked eagerly.

"Sirius, because he stayed at Hogwarts for Christmas break," Remus replied.

-----------------

The guests started dispersing after another hour had passed. By the time Remus and Tonks hugged Harry and Ginny, (who were the last of the guests), good-bye, Teddy was asleep on the couch, holding the stuffed owl from George (A new product, it pooped and hooted, but never ate), asleep. Remus scooped Teddy up gently and carried him off to bed. Tonks was sitting on the couch when Remus came back to the living room.

"I'm afraid to let Teddy onto a broom, even if it's just a kids' one," Tonks confessed, looking worried.

Remus sat next to her on the couch and kissed her cheek. "He'll be okay, though it's definitely a good thing Ginny's a Healer." Tonks smiled. "I never imagined you as an over-protective mother when I first met you."

"That's funny; I didn't imagine a man in an order devoted to fighting dark wizards to be afraid of heights."

He gave her a defeated look. "Teddy and I'll work on thank-you notes tomorrow."

"Great. You know, I think Teddy is the only person ever to never receive a book as a present from Hermione," Tonks remarked, holding up the kids' potions set that had been from Hermione and Ron.

"He might be. This is about my level," Remus said straight-faced, looking at the back of the potion kit box.

Tonks giggled. "Teddy'll be better than you in no time."

----------------------

By the time Tonks got home from the Ministry the next afternoon, Remus was chasing a flying red and gold blur that had to be Teddy around the house.

"Muuuum!" Teddy shrieked with delight when he saw her. He crashed into her, knocking her onto the couch thankfully behind her.

"He's still alive!" Tonks cried, amazed.

"And he's been on for a full hour! He's had several small crashes, but nothing too bad," Remus declared proudly.

"This is definitely our kid?"

"I'm pretty sure no one replaced him with another newborn metamorphosis while you were asleep and I was holding him."

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If you've got any plot ideas you'd like to see me use, feel free to pm me. Remember, reviews rock as much as you guys who rock more than denial, which rocks more than the Weird Sisters.


	3. The Chocolate Hunt

Thanks for the reviews! Okay, apology time. I didn't know posting spoilers in my summary would offend anybody. I mean, I imagine only people who really love Harry Potter would write and read fanfiction, and a true fan would do nothing but read as soon as the final book was placed in his/her hands. Second apology goes to Remus, to whom I'm sorry about the nickname I mentioned in the previous chapter. It was cruel, and I honestly feel bad about it, it's been haunting my conscience. Anyway, I'm sorry, and I hope J.K. Rowling is too, for killing off the characters she owns and crushing our cute little fangirl (fanboy?) souls. I think 'denial rocks' is becoming this story's official motto. Speaking of which, I should get to the story.

"Harry, I want to see your office, Mum's is boring," five-year-old Teddy begged his godfather.

"That's a great idea," Nymphadora Lupin said with enthusiasm. She could definitely use a few minutes without him. It's not that they still had to do work on Take-Your-Child-To-Work-Day, it was just Remus had made chocolate-chip pancakes that morning, so Teddy was extra hyper. This was the first time she had brought him to the Ministry event, and she had started to think she should have waited another year.

Teddy jumped up and down, his hair rapidly changing color. "Alright, I don't see why not," Harry said. "We can see Ron's, and Hermione's as well." Teddy jumped up extra high and taking advantage of Harry stooping down slightly, he grabbed Harry's shoulders.

"Piggy-back ride there?" He asked sweetly.

They set off. Tonks sat back down at her desk, not sure what to do. She wondered what Remus was doing. Probably drinking cocoa and doing the crossword, she thought.

-----

"Wow, Harry, your office is awesome!"

Harry grinned. As he was Head of the Department of Aurors, he had the largest office. The walls were brightly colored, with a few Quidditch posters up from Ron, and a calendar of humorous jinxes from Hermione. In the corner was a small butterbeer cooler. There was a large bowl of candy on his desk, filled with Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes products. Teddy, still quite short, stood on his tiptoes so he could see inside the bowl.

"No chocolate," he announced sadly after rooting through thoroughly.

Harry grinned. "Let's go see if Ron has some."

-------------

"Ron!" Teddy called, running into Ron's cubicle. Teddy looked around. No one was in it. The thin walls were covered in Chudley Cannons posters. It was smaller than Harry's, about the same size as his Mum's. He knew this was Ron's office; Harry had led him to it. "Harry?" Teddy called worried. No reply.

"Teddy!" Ron called from behind Teddy. Harry was with him.

"RON!" Teddy screamed. He jumped at Ron, who caught him, and started tickling him. Teddy lay back in Ron's arms from the force of the tickling. "St-o-o-op," Teddy choked out. Ron put him back down.

"Do you have any chocolate?" Teddy asked, straight to the point, not forgetting his mission.

"Only the stuff that melted into the rug."

"Awwww…" Teddy said sadly. "Maybe Hermione has some!" He exclaimed with hope.

Ron and Harry smiled.

"C'mon guys, let's go!" Teddy said on the brink of whining, but still managing to be extremely cute. And with Teddy tugging their hands, even though he didn't know where Hermione's office was, they set off.

--------------------

Hermione wasn't there when they got to her office.

"She's probably in court," Ron said. Hermione was pretty high up in Magical Law Enforcement.

"Why, what'd she do?" Teddy asked, confused. Hermione would never break a law; she wouldn't even let him have a cookie before dinner without any puppy dog pouting on his part.

Ron and Harry laughed. "Hermione didn't break a law, being in court is her job." Teddy still looked confused. "She helps people who think they didn't break a law, or…" Ron looked at Harry.

"You actually don't know what your wife does?" Harry asked Ron with an eyebrow raised.

"Harry, I'm confused," Teddy said.

"We all are," Harry replied.

"But does Hermione have chocolate or not?"

"She better," Ron grumbled.

"She better what?" Hermione asked Ron. "Hi Teddy, did your Mum bring you, or did Ron and Harry kidnap you?"

"Mum brought me, but her office is boring. It's full of pictures of me, not chocolate, and as cute as I am, chocolate is better."

Ron and Harry rolled their eyes. "I hope the baby in Ginny's stomach isn't as conceited as you," Harry said sarcastically.

"Ron!" Hermione scolded.

Teddy said to Hermione, "Are they making fun of me? What does 'conceited' mean?"

"They're really sorry, and conceited-,"

"But more importantly, do you have any chocolate?" Teddy asked, no longer caring about the meaning of the insult.

"I'm sorry Teddy; I don't have any. But they just put a couple of vending machines in downstairs, Ron and Harry could take you down to get some," Hermione suggested, trying to get them out; she had paperwork to do.

"So that's what that thing is, I just thought it was holding all that candy to torture us. Those Muggles," He said, shaking his head.

-----

When they reached the vending machines, Harry showed Ron the coin slot. Ron exclaimed "oh" when he showed Ron how to press the number and letter combination to get the chocolate Teddy desired. Apparently, a few other wizards had been confused, because Harry got a bit of applause after the Chocolate Frog dropped down and Harry pulled his hand out holding the foil package.

"Not Head Auror just because he defeated Voldemort, he's brilliant as well," A passing wizard said to his friend.

"I reckon he should run for Minister!" The friend replied.

Teddy watched Ron try to use the machine as he chewed his Chocolate Frog. Ron had to have Harry help him. Ron was blushing when he took his hand out, holding his box of Bertie Botts'.

"I wanted Pumpkin Pasties. Ah well, bean, Teddy?"

Teddy gladly accepted the bean.

"Ewww, gross!" He exclaimed, spitting the bean out into the candy wrapper. Ron grinned. Teddy glared.

"That's Harry Potter you just spat on; I've got ten or eleven of him, depending how you count," Ron said wittily, noticing the picture on the Famous Witches & Wizards card that was still in the package that Teddy had spat out the spinach flavored bean onto.

"That's not very nice," The Harry Potter on the card said.

"I agree with him. You're going back to your Mum," The actual Harry Potter said jokingly.

"I'm sorry Harry, really sorry!" Teddy apologized.

"I know, but we really should bring you back to her," Harry replied.

---

"Wotcher boys! Thanks for taking him," She said to Ron and Harry.

"It was so much fun!" Teddy said, jumping up and down. "Harry got me chocolate!"

Harry and Ron grinned, then waved bye before Tonks could say anything.

She sighed. They had to bring him back even more hyper.

-

Loyal reviewers, keep at it! New reviewers are always welcome! Add ideas you'd like to see me use if you want. I love to hear people's favorite parts.


	4. Sick Day Part 1

Reviewers, you mean a lot to me. Getting the characters right means everything to me, so thanks, guys, for telling me I'm doing a good job. Just a Killer Rowling owns it all. This is part one of two.

--

"Is that the last of it? I don't think you even eat that much," Nymphadora Tonks asked her barfing six year old.

Teddy started to say yes, but brought his head back down to the toilet bowl. "I think," He said, after emptying even more of the contents of his stomach.

"Good. Let's get you back into bed, and remind me in the morning to start monitoring what you eat and how much. I hope you haven't lost any vital organs."

Teddy walked back to his room, his mother following. "Night night, Barfy Teddy," She said after he was under the covers, tucked in.

"Night night Mum," Teddy said faintly.

Tonks walked back to bed. She snuggled back down next to Remus.

"How sick is he?" He asked her.

"So sick, he didn't even say anything when I called him Barfy Teddy."

"Isn't that a band you like?" Remus asked sleepily.

Tonks rolled her eyes in the dark. After a while, which Tonks had still not managed to get back to sleep during, Remus jumped out of bed and bolted in the direction of the bathroom. Tonks listened to the puking sounds, and Teddy's coughing coming from his room.

Ten minutes later, when Remus returned, Tonks had made up her mind.

"First thing tomorrow morning," She said to her sick husband, "I am going to floo over to Harry's, and inform him I will not be at work, as I'll be staying at home, running a sick ward."

---

Sure enough, she did.

"Need me to pick up anything? Medicine, soup…Anything?" Harry asked, after she had told him.

"Yeah, some cold medicine for Teddy would be great. Thanks so much Harry."

"It's not a problem at all. Tell Remus to get better, tell Teddy not to eat any chocolate while he's barfing." Harry paused. "You know what, tell that to both of them."

"Who are you talking to Harry?" Ginny called. "If it's George, tell him he's no longer allowed here before lunch, after what he did last time."

"Tonks is here. Teddy and Remus are sick."

Ginny came in, carrying James. "That's too bad, I hope they feel better."

"You know, I have found a bright side to all this: Teddy barely talked at all yesterday. Peace and quiet at last!" Tonks said gleefully. Harry and Ginny laughed, James gurgled. "I better get back to the two of them. Teddy probably wants more food he can throw up, and I, believe it or not, no longer burn toast!"

She flood back. Teddy was not yet asking for food, as he was still asleep. Remus was still in bed too, though he was talking to a pillow.

"Dora, why is your hair white?" He mumbled. Tonks rolled her eyes. Remus was sometimes a bit delusional when he was sick.

"That's not me, Remmy, that's my pillow."

"Oh."

"You want anything to eat?" She figured that since she was already up and clad in a Hinky Punks t-shirt and old dark jeans, she might as well stay awake.

"Don't say that word," He said weakly.

"How about anything to drink?"

"Tea would be nice."

"Okay. I'll bring it to you."

As Tonks made the requested tea, a wave of realization passed of her. This was the first time, while she had known him, that Remus Lupin had requested tea over cocoa. He must be pretty sick, she thought to herself.

----

After Tonks had brought Remus his tea, she went to check on Teddy. Remus had said he'd heard moaning noises coming from his room.

Teddy was curled up in bed, clutching Moony, his stuffed wolf. His eyes were slightly open, so Tonks guessed he was awake.

"Hey, Teddy-bear," she said softly, using her pet name for him. "You feel okay?" she knew the answer would be no, but it was one of those things the impulsive Mum part of her asked.

"No," Teddy moaned. "I feel barfy, sore, my nose is running, I can't stop coughing, and my head hurts."

"Wow. Got a eulogy picked out?" She paused, expecting Teddy to ask what a eulogy was. He didn't so she continued talking. "I'm staying home from work, so I can take care of you and your delusional Dad. I'll be in the living room if you need me."

Tonks walked into the living room. As soon as she sat down on the couch with the day's Daily Prophet, she heard moaning from Remus' room. She got up, sighing, and went to see what the problem was.

------

Ten minutes later, Nymphadora had both of them in the living room, each lying on a couch in pajamas, while she sat in an armchair. This way, she didn't have to walk all the way upstairs whenever she heard barfing, coughing fits, or moaning. She had given both of them medicine (She had to give Teddy a small amount of the adult medicine because they didn't have any kids').

Teddy, too weak to change his hair color, had sandy brown hair, the same as his Dad, only with no grey. He was half asleep, snuggling under a flannel blanket with Moony the stuffed wolf. A box of tissues was next to him, several used ones littered the blanket.

Remus, on the other couch, was mumbling incoherently in his sleep. Tonks found it quite cute, and was translating for fun.

And now he's saying Hungarian Horntails make the best pastries, she thought to herself. She then realized she hadn't eaten anything yet, and went to the kitchen to fix herself a bowl of Chocolate Coated Crunchy Kelpies, Teddy's breakfast cereal of choice.

---

That was part one of two. In the next chapter: Remus and Teddy argue over who's closer to death, Harry comes to the rescue, and Tonks tries to do a crossword without Remus.


	5. Sick Day Part 2

Thanks, as always, for the reviews. Denial is no longer just a river in Egypt. You guys make me feel so special! Oh, and you don't have to ask me to continue, I promise I will, even if I do take a break for a couple days. Anyway, to answer your questions, Teddy is not, nor will he become, a werewolf.

I still own nothing.

--

"You get a point for that last coughing fit, but I get at least three for my headache."

"Not fair! How should I know how bad your head hurts?" Teddy asked his Dad.

"Fine, I get two though," Remus replied.

"Alright," Teddy obliged. "But then I get an extra point for the coughing fit; phlegm came up."

"Okay, okay."

All of a sudden, Harry stepped out of the fireplace.

"Hey Remus, Barfy. Still alive?" He greeted.

"Apparently," Remus answered.

"I come bearing medicine for Teddy," He announced. Teddy cheered. "I knew he was sick, but this sick?" Harry said in disbelief.

"Oh Harry, thanks so much!" Tonks cried, running into the living room.

"It was no problem, you're welcome," said Harry.

"Medicine please?" Teddy asked, clearly wanting it.

Harry walked over to Teddy's couch, and sat down.

"Ouch!" Teddy cried. "You weigh a lot, Harry."

"Thanks," Harry said absently, staring at the medicine, trying to figure out how much Teddy needed. He poured a small amount of liquid into a small plastic cup. He passed it to Teddy, who swallowed it quickly, and happily.

"Oh, great, we've got an addict," Tonks said sarcastically.

"If his is that good, I want some," Remus commented.

---

Harry left, and Tonks went back into the kitchen. She was beginning to see why Teddy liked the cereal so much. She felt a huge sugar buzz after the first bowl, so she started on a second. She picked up the paper she had been reading.

She came to a crossword puzzle. Tonks had never been good at crossword puzzles. Remus did them, though. And he was quite good. Tonks looked at the first description. _Puddlemore United keeper_. It didn't take long for her to think of Oliver Wood. When she tried it in, it even fit. So, she continued_. Babbitty Rabbit and her Stump. _She wrote in the correct answer. She smiled to herself as she went on to the next, feeling confident.

Five minutes later, when she was beginning to get stumped, Teddy walked in.

"Hey Teddy, hungry?" She asked.

"Depends. If it's not burnt, yes. If you're cooking, no."

"Glad to see that no matter how sick you get, you'll always be the Teddy we know, and sometimes love. And I don't think I could burn canned soup." She paused. "Also, aren't you too sick to be able to taste anything?"

"I guess, do we have chicken noodle?" Teddy asked.

"I believe we do, yes," She said, checking the cupboard.

Tonks got to work warming up the contents of the soup can, and Teddy sat down. "How's dad doing?" She asked.

"He's asleep. And he said to warn you about dancing elves. He says they clean your laundry, but don't iron it, and they mismatch the socks," Teddy recited his father's mumblings.

"That's good to know." Tonks turned her head away from the pot of soup and coughed. She ladled a bowl for Teddy, and one for herself. They slurped in silence. The silence was broken when Remus entered the room.

"Something smells…not burnt," He said in amazement.

Tonks filled a bowl of soup for him as he sat down. "Everyone seems so amazed that I can empty out a can of soup into a pot and heat it up."

Neither Teddy nor Remus felt like going back to sleep after finishing their soup, so Teddy suggested they play Dragonland, his favorite board game. Remus agreed to play with him, but Tonks said she wanted to finish her crossword puzzle.

Remus raised his eyebrows. "I thought you could change your appearance, not talents," He said.

"Your Dad's funny," she said to Teddy, who was giggling, "But looks aren't everything." Remus pretended to be offended, and gave her a fake evil eye on his way to the living room to play Teddy's board game.

Teddy had already gotten the box of the shelf that housed the mass amounts of board games he owned. He had the board open on the coffee table, and was poking one of the toy dragon game pieces. The challenge in Dragonland was to make it across the board without your chosen dragon being blown apart, eaten, or mauled by the other dragons that lined the path to the finish, or other players' dragons.

Each of the miniscule dragons lined up, and looked at Remus and Teddy. The dragon always chose the player it wanted to work for. The Chinese Fireball flew over to Teddy, and the Norwegian Ridgeback soared to Remus. The remaining dragons walked over to the board and set themselves up.

After ten minutes, which was pretty long for a game, Teddy's dragon was missing a wing, and Remus's was blind, both courtesy of the Hungarian Horntail. Tonks walked into the room.

"Given up on your crossword?" Remus asked, smirking.

"No, it's just my head started hurting." She looked at the pathetic dragons. The Hungarian finished off both of them. "I get to play next game! And I'm gonna cream both of you."

And she did. The Hungarian Horntail picked her, dooming Teddy's Ukranian Ironbelly, and Remus's Romanian Longhorn. Halfway through the second game, though, she ran into the bathroom to puke, and when she returned, Teddy's and Remus's dragons had teamed up to slaughter hers.

"I'm staying home tomorrow, too," She informed the guys when she came back.

----

So that was the conclusion to Sick Day. I hope everyone enjoyed it. I figure it's we're only five or so chapters before we head off to Hogwarts.


	6. Diagon Alley

Thanks for the reviews! But please stop urging me to update. I mean, if you say, like, "please update soon" with proper English and you make a comment about the chapter, it's okay. But anything else…grrr. As always, I own zip.

On Saturday morning, six year old Teddy jumped on top of his parents' bed. Remus, from under the covers, yelled.

"Ouch! Why'd you do that?"

"I want you guys to get up, Mum, you said we could go to Diagon Alley and look at brooms!" He urged. Teddy wasn't an especially good flier, but like most boys (And a large percentage of girls), he still loved Quidditch. He had graduated from a kids' broom onto a Firebolt Phoenix from Harry.

Remus looked at Tonks, who grinned and shrugged her shoulders. "I've got some errands to run, and I figured we might as well drag him along and let him look at brooms. You can go to Flourish and Blotts'," she told him, figuring he wouldn't complain.

"Come _on_! Get up! I wanna go!" Teddy begged.

"Chill, Teddy," Tonks said.

"Fine," Teddy gaved in, rolling his eyes.

Tonks put her hands on Teddy's, who was sitting on the bed, shoulders. She pulled him towards her.

"Remember who we used to all lie in bed on weekends, together?" Tonks recalled.

"We haven't done that for a while," Remus added.

Teddy, who had apparently inherited it from both his parents, rolled his eyes. "Fine," he said again, getting in between his Mum and Dad under the covers.

And so the three, but mainly two (Remus kept drifting in and out of sleep) talked and joked around. Teddy talked nonstop about the new broom he wanted to look at, and kept bringing up the fact that Christmas was, after all, only four months away.

Every couple minutes, his mum or dad (if he was awake) would say something about getting up and making breakfast. For a while, nobody exactly followed through. When Remus finally fell out of bed on account of Teddy pushing him, Remus decided to stay out and get breakfast put together. Soon after, when smells began wafting into the bedroom, Tonks and Teddy decided to get up.

They ate, dressed and then flooed to The Leaky Cauldron, where Teddy's hair, green with a blue stripe in the middle, had gotten quite a few stares. The three Lupins walked out back to the brick wall, and Tonks tapped the brick.

"I'll take care of my errands," Tonks said to her husband as they entered Diagon Alley, "And you and Teddy can walk around."

"Sounds good," Remus replied. "Want to meet at Flourish and Blotts' at…," he said checking his watch, "two o'clock?"

"Sure! Okay, bye boys," She said, waving to them as she set off towards Gringotts'.

Teddy and Remus' first stop was Quality Quidditch Supplies. They walked in, and Teddy yammered on about brooms. Remus wasn't listening very intently, nor was he interested in looking at brooms, but he stood with Teddy and occasionally nodded. Several kids, and sporadically parents, stared at Teddy's interesting hair. Teddy knew, and was quite fine with it.

"You're going to attract so many girls when you get to Hogwarts," His father whispered in his ear as Teddy. Teddy thought about this. He didn't believe in things like cooties, but he wasn't over-the-top enthusiastic about the opposite sex yet.

"Prof- Remus!" Neville Longbottom greeted Remus.

"Hello Neville!" He exclaimed. "How are you doing?"

"Great, school starts in two weeks, so I'm here to stock up. I find keeper gloves work great with handling semi-dangerous plants," he explained, holding up a pair. "This is Teddy, right?" Neville asked Remus, who confirmed it. Teddy had met Neville a few times before, mostly at various Potter-hosted parties.

Teddy looked at brooms while his dad continued his conversation with Neville. Neville left, and Teddy decided he was done looking at brooms. They left, and walked towards Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes.

George of course no longer worked at the store; he spent all day creating new products. He was currently looking into more international branches. The shop had made him rich. He no longer lived in the flat above; he had a huge house in a wizarding neighborhood.

Remus and Teddy went in. Had the shop been open while the Marauders were in school, teachers would have had even more to fear, which was saying something.

"Look Dad!" Teddy cried. "Talking rocks!" Teddy held up a package, with a rock inside. "You put it somewhere, with normal rocks or something, and when someone walks by…" Teddy cracked up.

"You know what? Remus asked. "We should buy one, and scare your mum."

Teddy's eyes gleamed. "Yeah, let's do it!"

Remus took a shopping basket on a hunch.

They walked around, Teddy pointing to his favorites, and Remus putting them in the basket after being convinced to buy them (None of them took much convincing).

Remus knew about how Fred and George had taken the Marauders' Map from Filch, and he kept expecting to see a product based on it. But he didn't. There were no maps of Hogwarts. He saw parchment that insulted anyone who picked it up, and plenty of products that only activated when a certain key phrase was used, but none of these things combined. Remus was glad about that; the Marauders' Map was an original, not to be duplicated. George clearly understood that.

After Remus paid for the large stash they had selected, they walked to Flourish and Blotts'. It was two fifteen when they arrived. Tonks was standing near a display of books. Upon closer inspection, Remus saw that it was a new Harry Potter biography.

"Wotcher boys!" She said as they walked over to her. "It's like everyone only wants to write and read about Harry, and nothing else. Next thing you know, the muggles'll be writing about him! Anyway, what'd you two get?"

Teddy opened his mouth, but Remus talked first. "We got a new practice snitch, the old one was slowing down." Luckily, Remus was holding the Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes bag so that the side with the shop name was towards his leg, and therefore not showing. Tonks bought it.

"What d'you say we go get ice cream?" Tonks asked.

"Let's go!" Teddy said enthusiastically.

"Did you really need to ask?" Remus asked Tonks rhetorically.

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Hope you liked it. I'm writing this as I go, so I don't know what the next chapter is going to be, though I do have a few ideas.


	7. Present and a Party

Hey guys! I'm going to be away for about a week and a half, so I won't be able to update. Sorry!

I own nada. The big goose egg. Zip.

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Seven year old Teddy Lupin stared at the largest and best birthday present he had just received. The drum set was brand new, so new the cymbals shined like a fresh galleon. There were three cymbals, counting the high-hat. The red painted toms (There were three) glistened. The snare drum snares were audible when anyone moved. It was better than a new broom to Teddy Lupin on his seventh birthday.

His parents watched Teddy's utter amazement. It had been Remus's idea to get Teddy a drum set. His inspiration had been how Teddy enjoyed whacking an assortment of objects with chopsticks, every time they got Chinese take-out. Tonks had supported and seconded the idea with enthusiasm. She had visions of Teddy being in a band, and becoming famous. Tonks' daydreams were as wild as her hair.

With Teddy's hair, his excitement showed. He changed colors rapidly. Vivid orange, lime green, bubblegum pink, grape, banana yellow, and settled on turquoise. In disbelief, he sat down at the set, on the black seated stool. He pressed his right foot to the bass drum pedal and briskly hit the drum head several times.

"Wow…This is so awesome!" He shouted. His dad handed him a small, long wrapped package. Teddy accepted and tore the polka-dotted wrapping paper off. He took the drum sticks inside out of the small cardboard rectangle that kept the pair together. Teddy gave the snare drum a loud whack. He started hitting all the drums, hearing the combinations of sounds.

Remus gave Tonks an all-knowing grin. She kissed him.

"So," Remus asked Teddy. "Where do you want to put it? It would fit in your room, but then you wouldn't have a lot of space. We could leave it in here."

"Or we could put it in the library," Tonks added. Remus looked at her in a humorous way. "What?" She asked.

"Little ironic, isn't it? Putting a drum set in a library?"

"There's space, and that's just where the books are, you don't have to read in there. Then we could put a silencing charm on the whole room."

"I want to put it in the library," Teddy announced.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Alright," he obliged.

The Lupins' library was a semi-large rectangular room full of crammed bookshelves, and a desk off to the side. There was an old red sofa near the fireplace at the far end of the room. Remus and Tonks levitated Teddy's drum set, each drum or cymbal individually, to the middle of the room.

Teddy banged around on the drum set after it was put in place. He found the drums irresistible. He adored the satisfying _thunk_ of the pedal hitting the bass drum, the crash the high-hat made when he bashed the stick against it when it was open. Put simply, Teddy found he was in love with percussion.

Two days after his real birthday, the Lupins held a birthday party for Teddy. Remus, Harry, Ron, Bill, and two year old James were in the kitchen, standing around and talking.

Tonks, Andromeda, Fleur, Ginny and Hermione were in the living room. Hermione had recently found out she was pregnant and due in eight months. Ginny was also pregnant, and was due in October, six months away.

"Fleur, how do you feel about more kids?" Hermione asked.

"Vell, Victoire is an angel, and Bill and I ave discussed it, but ve avent decided yet," Fleur replied.

"Speaking of Victoire, where is she?" Ginny asked.

"Probably with Teddy," Tonks answered.

"What about you, Tonks?" Ginny asked.

"What d'you mean?"

"What do you think about having more kids?" Andromeda asked her daughter.

"Well," Tonks stalled. "Remus and I never talked about it, I mean, with Teddy, we were taking a risk with the baby inheriting Remus's furry little problem, and we were lucky. I guess we're happy with the way it is now, just the three of us."

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"Wow, Teddy, that's so cool!" Five year old Victoire exclaimed when Teddy showed her a simple rhythm he had learned to play from the book his parents had given him, _Learning Drums: Beginner Level_.

Teddy smiled to himself and repeated it, changing hair color on the first and third beats.

---

The men in the kitchen were not talking about Quidditch or taming dragons.

"If it's a girl, how about Annabeth?" Bill said.

"No, Ginny and I already have a girls' name," Harry replied.

"Lily, right?" Remus asked.

"Yeah."

"Hermione wants to name the baby Rose if it's a girl, it's like we're growing a garden, not having kids," Ron said, taking a swig of butterbeer. "We have no idea what to call the baby if it's a boy. I keep telling Hermione she should put make-up on her stomach or something to influence it to be a girl." That was met by chortles all around, including little James, who was currently clinging to Harry's left leg. "Well it's better than having your kid go through life with a terrible name that he gets made fun of for and having him blame it on you."

"If it's a boy, you could name him after Fred," Bill suggested gently.

"I think that's more George's territory, if he actually finds a girl who doesn't mind being a lab rat and puts up with finding dungbombs in her sock drawer," Ron replied.

"Well, if our baby's a boy, he's going to be Albus Severus," Harry said. This was met with puzzled looks.

"Blimey mate, isn't that an oxymoron?" Ron asked rhetorically.

"That's an interesting choice," Remus said.

"Yeah," Bill agreed.

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Later, after the party, Tonks asked Remus a question as they lay in bed.

"What do you think about having another kid?"

"What, the two of us aren't enough for you?" He asked, faking hurt feelings.

"No, I'm not saying I want to, just what if we did?"

"I like it, just you, me, and Teddy."

"That's exactly what I thought," Tonks said happily.

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New title: Three's Company. Just kidding. I'll be back in a week and a half, I'll miss you guys! Once I get back, expect loads of updates!


	8. Babies and the Beach

I'm back! And this chapter contains a little surprise! Anyway, I still don't own anything.

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The Lupins visited Shell Cottage at least one weekend per month.

Bill Weasley, Victoire, Ron, Harry, James, Remus and Teddy were down at the beach. Bill was swimming, while Remus and Harry sat on beach towels and watched two year old James work on running. Ron was asleep in the sand. Teddy and Victoire had tried burying him earlier, and it showed. Eight year old Teddy was currently working on a sand castle with six year old Victoire.

Teddy wiped sand off his glasses. It had turned out his mother's klutziness was not hereditary, as ever since he had gotten them three months ago, he hadn't been as accident-prone. It had been Harry's idea to get Teddy's eyes checked at a muggle ophthalmologist after they had been riding brooms in the Potters' backyard and Teddy had crashed into several trees over the course of the afternoon.

The sand castle was not going too well. It kept collapsing. After noticing this, Remus grabbed his wand and pointed it at the castle. Teddy and Victoire shrieked with happiness, thinking that they had done it, not seeing Remus with his wand out.

After a little longer, Fleur came down to say it was lunchtime. They headed back up to the cottage.

Teddy ran into the kitchen, where his mother was sitting at the table with Ginny and Hermione. Ginny was holding Albus, and Hermione was holding Rose, both of whom were less than a year old.

"Hey Teddy," His mum said, ruffling his lime green hair. "Your sister is kicking like crazy today. How's the beach?"

"How can you be sure it's a girl?" Remus asked, entering the kitchen, waving his wand to wipe up the sand Teddy had tracked in.

"I knew Teddy was going to be a boy, didn't I?"

"Where's Ron?" Hermione asked. Everyone had come in now, except Ron.

"Blimey, he's still asleep!" Harry exclaimed. The room cracked up. "I forgot to wake him up! I'll go get him."

"Your dad is so odd," Hermione cooed to Rosie, who giggled.

Everyone helped themselves to the platter of sandwiches Fleur had prepared. Harry came back up with Ron, who chased Teddy and Victoire playfully around the house in return for their trying to bury him. They were forced to stop after Ron ran straight into Ginny by accident.

After lunch, they all went down to the beach. Hermione read while Ron played with Rosie in the sand ("Ron! Don't bury her!"); Fleur looked for shells with Victoire while Bill slept; Harry held an also sleeping Albus as Teddy asked him questions about Hogwarts (He still wasn't going for three years, but he couldn't wait), Ginny read James a picture book; and Remus and Tonks lay next to each other.

"Harry, who's the Potions professor?" Teddy asked for what seemed like the millionth time.

"Professor Slughorn."

"Is he nice?"

"Well, it really depends. Since you're a Metamorphagus, he'll definitely give you special treatment."

"Three more months," Tonks sighed. "We have the perfect name for you," She said to her stomach.

"Juniper Kate Lupin," Remus said, addressing Tonks' large stomach.

"That's right, no terrible name like the one my mum gave me," She cooed to her stomach.

"And if your silly mum is wrong and you're a boy, Sirius, uh, something Lupin." They still hadn't picked out a boys' middle name.

Teddy paused from questioning Harry and turned to look at his parents, shaking his head at their insanity as they talked to his mum's tummy. Teddy had been excited about having a younger sibling at first, but that was then, now it was so…real. They had been working on transforming the spare bedroom into a nursery. Teddy had been king of the world for eight years, and he knew he was about to be demoted.

"It won't be that bad, Teddy," Harry said. Teddy turned back to look at Harry, who had passed Albus to Ginny. "They'll spend a lot of time with the baby at first, but think about: You'll be the first to go to Hogwarts, you'll have all sorts of adventures to tell him or her about. It'll look up to you. And, uh, if it's a girl, her friends'll all have crushes on you." Teddy stared at him, horrified.

"Harry, what do you know about having a younger sibling?" Teddy pointed out.

Harry thought about that. Dudley didn't really count as a sibling; he did, after all, think he had a reason as to why he was better than Harry, as did Dudley's parents. Harry reached for the backpack that Ginny had brought. "Here, have some chocolate," he said, handing him a Chocolate Frog. That silenced Teddy.

Victoire walked over to Teddy, holding a pretty white shell with streaks of orange on it. "I found it for you!" she declared happily.

Teddy accepted the shell, then stared at it and scrunched his face up in concentration. His hair turned white, with orange stripes. Victoire clapped in delight.

Teddy thanked her, and glanced over at his dad, who was asleep. "You saw nothing," He told Harry, then walked over to his dad with Victoire. His mum was now sitting with Ginny.

"What…" Victoire started, but realized what they were doing upon seeing the mischief in Teddy's turquoise eyes.

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When Remus woke up half an hour later with Tonks leaning over him, stifling her laughter, he was covered in sand, head to two. As he stood up, it stuck to him. He realized they must've put water on over the sand. As for figuring out who "they" were, it was no big mystery.

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I decided that a majority of reviewers were right with suggesting a baby. Now we're 2-3 chapters away from Hogwarts.


	9. Juniper

Over 100 reviews! I love you guys! You all get hugs from Teddy!

I still don't own anything.

Teddy and Remus were sitting in the living room. Remus was reading _The Daily Prophet_, and Teddy was reading _Hogwarts: A History_. Remus reached for his mug on the coffee table, but dropped it in shock.

"Remus," Harry's voice called from the fireplace. It wasn't loud, but it was urgent sounding. "Remus, she's gone into labor!" Harry's head said.

Remus bolted up. "Can you make sure she gets to Saint Mungo's? I'll take Teddy to Ron and Hermione's, Hermione'll be home, she can watch him."

"Sure," Harry said quickly, and his head disappeared.

Remus grabbed Teddy's hand, and Teddy prepared for the unpleasant feeling. He hated Side-Along Apparation.

After the unpleasant, claustrophobia - inducing feeling, Teddy ended up on the floor of the Weasleys' living room.

"Who's there?" Hermione called from upstairs.

"It's Remus, and Teddy's here too, Nympadora's in labor, can you watch him?" Remus quickly called back.

"Of course, you better get going!"

Remus knelt down so he could be at Teddy's height. "Behave for Hermione, alright? Don't drive her crazy. I'll be back for you after mum delivers the baby." Teddy nodded. They hugged, and Remus popped off to Saint Mungo's.

Teddy raced upstairs. Hermione was waiting at the top of the staircase. "You're a big brother now, Teddy! Congratulations!" She said, pulling him into a hug. "Now, I just put Rose down for her nap, so we should head downstairs so we don't wake her."

They walked downstairs, and into the kitchen, where Hermione made hot chocolate for Teddy, and tea for herself.

"Do you hope your little sibling is a boy or a girl?" Hermione asked as they slurped their drinks.

Teddy thought. "A girl," he replied.

They spent the next two hours reading (The number one approved Hermione activity) (Teddy had brought his copy of _Hogwarts:_ _A History_ with him without realizing it). Then, Remus Apparated back.

"Is it a boy or girl?" Hermione asked excitedly.

"A girl, Juniper Sirius Lupin," Remus announced proudly. "We really wanted to use Sirius' name. So," he said to Teddy, "Ready to go see them?" Teddy nodded. Remus looked back at Hermione. "Thanks for watching him."

"It was no problem," Hermione assured him, "We'll stop by and see the baby once Ron gets home." They said their goodbyes, and Remus Apparated with Teddy to Saint Mungo's.

Remus and Teddy walked up to Tonks' room. Tonks was lying down on the bed. Andromeda was there as well. Teddy ran over to the bed, and his mother hugged him.

"Mum!"

"Wotcher Teddy," She greeted, running a hand through his hair. Teddy went over to his grandmother, whom he knew was also expecting a hug.

When his grandmother let go, he noticed a fish-tank like container, inside being what only could've been his sister. His dad walked over to it with him. "Meet Juniper," He said softly. The tiny baby raised a fist, and then promptly changed her small tuft of brown hair to bright red. Teddy smiled. Having a sister didn't seem too bad.

Five minutes later, Harry came in. Teddy ran straight over to him and into his arms. "Ugh, you're getting too heavy for this," Harry said, but kept holding him.

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The next day, Tonks and Juniper were ready to come home. Juniper was settled into her crib, and Tonks slept, waking up only when Juniper cried to be fed. Tonks had decided on taking the next three months off. Remus got stuck with changing diapers, as well as delivering Tonks's food to her in bed.

Owls came, delivering baby presents and cards, and there was occasionally something for Teddy. Since Remus was busy, and because Teddy wanted a job to make him feel important, Teddy was put in charge of cataloguing what gifts came from whom, so thank-you notes could be written after the madness settled down.

To Teddy's delight, many people sent fancy boxes of chocolates. Minerva McGonagall, whom Teddy had met a few times at parties, sent Teddy a book about animagi. The Potters gave Teddy a new snitch, Ron and Hermione gave him a new chess set, George of course sent some of his latest developments, and Molly and Arthur Weasley sent him a sweater with drumsticks knitted on the front, which Teddy thought was the coolest a sweater could be.

All in all, Teddy didn't mind having a little sister. Since there was a Silencing Charm on her room he couldn't hear her cry, he got presents, and like Harry said, he now had someone who would look up to him.

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Remus did a good job at making sure Teddy didn't feel neglected. The two of them played chess and ate chocolate together every night. Remus made whatever Teddy wanted for dinner (Except for chocolate). Remus even tried to teach Teddy how to change a diaper, but surprisingly, Teddy was not interested.

Teddy morphed his face for Juniper's amusement. He did pig noses, duck bills, and bird beaks. He made his tongue longer, which made her laugh her tiny little baby giggle. He asked his dad if he could bring Juniper into the library so he drum for her.

"No, I don't think she'd like that," He answered when the two of them were eating dinner.

Teddy liked reading picture books to Juniper while his dad held her. "She's not going to be as smart as me, but at least she won't be stupid," He told his dad, who rolled his eyes.

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Next chapter: Teddy turns eleven, and gets his Hogwarts letter.


	10. The Letter

Sorry about the lateness. Also sorry to all who wanted Juniper to be a werewolf. She isn't, as I thought Remus would feel incredibly guilty, and I don't want him to be. Oh, and this story won't be over until it says complete, it really irritates me when I see reviews saying 'please continue', though the 'please' is nice. Anyway, Teddy gets his letter! And I still don't own anything.

Newly eleven purple haired Teddy Lupin bolted down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Wow," said his mother, "Has he ever woken up this early?"

"Not on his own," His father replied.

Teddy filled his plate with pancakes, and ate hurriedly. "When's it gonna come?" He asked in between bites.

As if on cue, a large gray owl started tapping on the window from outside. Teddy ran over and opened it before his mother could raise a hand. The owl flew onto the counter, and Teddy untied the letter attached to its leg. He tore open the envelope. "Yes, yes!" He yelled.

It didn't seem like such a big deal for a kid from a wizarding family to get a Hogwarts letter to an outsider (Unless that kid was a werewolf like Remus Lupin), but yet every wizarding child was always extremely excited.

"So you're not a squib after all," His mother said in mock relief.

Teddy read the letter twice. "Ha ha.When can we go to Diagon Alley?" He asked excitedly.

"After breakfast," Dora answered.

"None of us are dressed," Remus pointed out. "And your sister isn't up yet."

"How about just the two of you go?" His mother said. "I'll stay home with your sister, we'll have a girls' day." Dora was going to be home anyway, seeing as it was a Saturday.

"Alright," Teddy said quickly, running upstairs to get dressed. "But dad, don't take forever!"

"I do not take forever!" Remus protested loudly to Teddy. "Do I?" He asked, quieter, to his wife. She rolled her eyes. "Do I?" He asked again.

"Sometimes," She replied nonchalantly.

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Half an hour later, Remus and Teddy stood at the brick wall. Remus tapped the brick, and the father and son walked into Diagon Alley.

Teddy was always excited when they went shopping in Diagon Alley, and since it was all about getting stuff for him now, he was extremely excited.

They bought him a cauldron, a set of scales, phials, telescope, and a basic ingredients kit. He got fitted for robes at Madame Malkin's. Teddy and Remus got Teddy's textbooks at Flourish and Blotts, and Teddy had to drag his dad out. Finally, Teddy only needed his wand, and an owl.

They went to Ollivanders first, where they were greeted by a young wizard with large eyes. In almost no time, Teddy had been measured, and had a wand, 10 ½ inches, made of mahogany.

"So, we've got everything now?" Remus asked Teddy jokingly.

"Daaad," Teddy said, exasperated. "What about an owl?"

"I was kidding, you don't have to pout," He said to Teddy, who was in the early stages of a deadly puppy dog pout.

In Eeylops Owl Emporium, Teddy picked out a medium sized brown owl that he could've sworn smiled at him.

"What're you going to name her?" Remus asked.

"I don't know yet. Hey, I thought the Leaky Cauldron was that way?" Teddy pointed out, and also pointed.

"It is. We're going to George's shop. I can't believe you didn't mention anything about going there," Remus remarked.

They walked into Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes, which was, as always, jam-packed. It was easy to spot George, with his red hair. For George, it was even easier to spot purple haired Teddy.

"Hey Teddy, happy birthday!" George said, coming over and ruffling Teddy's hair. "Anything you want is free, that's your present. Just promise me one thing." Teddy watched George intensely. "Promise to me that you'll wreak havoc at school, okay?" 

Teddy nodded rapidly. "I promise!"

After Teddy had gone to grab anything he even slightly wanted, George turned to Remus. "Did you ever get the map back from Harry?"

Remus nodded. "A while ago. I'm going to give it to Teddy the night before he leaves."

An hour later, the two Lupins were back at home.

"Have you come up with a good name yet?" Tonks asked as they admired his owl.

"No, I can't think of any," Teddy replied.

"How about Spot?" Remus suggested.

"She doesn't have any spots, dad."

"Irony Teddy. That's why it would be funny," Remus told Teddy, who rolled his eyes.

Green haired Juniper was having what looked like a staring contest with the owl, which was perched on the coffee table. Mad-Eye, the family owl, hadn't been very friendly to it.

"Poke," Juniper said, poking Teddy's owl. When it didn't bite, she poked it again. "Poke."

"Poke?" Remus said.

"Yeah, why not! I'll name her Poke." Teddy bent down to Poke's line of vision. "I'll call you Poke." The owl hooted appreciatively. Remus and Tonks looked at each other and shrugged.

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Around five months later, at night, Tonks and Juniper were asleep. Teddy, however, could not fall asleep. He tossed and turned, tried counting hippogriffs, and even read some of his History of Magic textbook, but nothing helped. He got out of bed and walked to the kitchen.

The light was already on. Teddy walked in to see his dad sitting at the table, sipping from a mug.

"I had a feeling you'd still be up," Remus said. Teddy sat down at the table.

"I can't fall asleep," Teddy said.

"Everyone's like that the night before they leave for Hogwarts. I couldn't sleep, you mother couldn't sleep, your sister won't be able to sleep, even Poke can't fall asleep."

"Dad, Polk's nocturnal."

"Anyway," Remus went on. "I've got something for you." He picked up an old piece of parchment that was lying on the table in front of him. "This is The Maruaders' Map. It's a map of Hogwarts, and it also shows everybody in the castle."

Teddy could tell his dad loved the map, but Teddy had to break it to him. "Dad, it can't do that. It's an old piece of parchment."

Remus raised his eyebrows. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." Writing appeared on it. "Just say 'Mischief Managed' to make it go blank." Remus looked at Teddy seriously. "Teddy, this map has belonged to all the best trouble makers Hogwarts has ever taught. George and his brother Fred; Harry, Ron and Hermione, though they weren't exactly pranksters, but they did use the map the way it was intended to be used; and, of course, the Marauders. Now," He said, "Do you promise me that you will do this map proud and wreak havoc?" Teddy nodded. "Good. Now try and get some sleep."

Teddy walked back to bed holding the map. "Mischief managed," He said, as he turned out the light.

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Next chapter: Teddy goes to Hogwarts!

If you review, share who you always thought should play Remus. I mean, no offense David Thewlis, but he just doesn't play him the way I want him to be played, nor does he look the part. My Remus picks are Hugh Laurie, Henry Ian Cusack, and John Stewert.


	11. The Train

Every time I hear the Simpsons theme lately, I think, "The Lupins." Anyway, I still own nothing.

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"Mum, why does Teddy have to go? I want him to stay with us," brown haired Juniper protested. For a three year old, Juniper spoke very clearly.

"Juniper, Teddy needs to go to school. You'll see him again, I promise," Tonks replied.

Remus and lime green haired Teddy walked slightly ahead. They stopped when they came to a good spot in the platform.

"Promise to write?" Teddy asked.

"I promise. Do you promise to write?" Remus asked Teddy.

"Yeah." Teddy paused. "Dad, what if I don't get sorted into Gryffindor? What if I end up in a house where no one's at all like me?"

"Teddy," Remus replied, "I can't imagine you in any house except Gryffindor." Teddy looked confused. "You'd annoy the other Ravenclaws when they'd study, you're not at all Slytherin like, and Hufflepuffs are a tad boring, which you are definitely not."

"Okay."

Teddy hugged and kissed both his parents several times, and allowed Juniper to plant multiple wet, sloppy kisses on his cheek.

Remus looked at his watch. "If you don't get on soon, it's going to leave without you."

Teddy gave his mum, dad, and sister one last hug each. And with the good-byes taken care of, he got onto the train.

He walked along, pulling his trunk. The train started moving while he was walking. He peaked inside compartments full of friends, looking for one that was empty, or with someone his year inside.

"Hey, you want to sit in here? It's just me so far, but I'm waiting for a friend," said a girl about Teddy's height with strawberry blonde hair tied up in two short pigtails. She had wire glasses, and was wearing baggy khakis with a green t-shirt, bearing the name of the Hinkypunks.

"Sure," Teddy said, pulling his trunk inside the compartment. There was only one other trunk inside.

"Oh, he'll come around," The girl said. She pulled the door shut and sat down opposite Teddy. "I'm Mackenzie Skeldon," She introduced. "And you either have really lenient parents, or you're a Metemorphagus."

"I'm Teddy Lupin," Teddy said. "And yeah, both."

"Cool," Mackenzie said. "And I obviously go by Mack, because life's short, and every time someone calls me Mackenzie instead of Mack, they've just wasted two valuable syllables.

"So," Mack began, "First year?"

"Yeah, you too?" Teddy asked.

Mack grinned. "Second. I should've asked this at the door, but you want to be in Gryffindor, right?" Teddy nodded. "Good. You might want to change your hair color though." Teddy changed it to scarlet. "Much better."

They talked about hobbies; Mack was impressed with Teddy's drumming. They talked about Quidditch; Mack wanted to be a Beater. As Teddy began to ask questions about classes, the door opened. Mack ran to the figure in the doorway and jumped on him.

"Where were you?" Mack asked the brown haired boy whom she was hugging.

"With Christina. She's trying to institute 'Junior Prefects', and thought I'd be a good example of 'exemplary behavior.' There was silence for a moment, and then Mack and the boy burst out laughing. The boy was a bit taller than Teddy, and had glasses, just like the other occupants of the compartment.

"Ah, what little they know," Mack said, grinning. "Anyway, Hank, meet Teddy Lupin, Teddy Lupin meet Hank Erchief."

Hank rolled his eyes. "Hank Emerson. I'm in Gryffindor."

Hank sat down next to Mack. "I got practically no sleep last night, so I might doze off."

Teddy realized he was quite tired as well. "I might also," he said.

"You guys are no fun! I mean, Hank I haven't seen you all summer, and now you want to sleep!"

"Fine, I'll stay awake."

The conversation turned to family. Hank, as it turned out, had two older sisters and two younger sisters.

"What years are they in?" Teddy asked.

"Christina's in sixth year, she's a Ravenclaw and a prefect. Veronica's in fourth year, she's in Hufflepuff. Jenna starts next year, and then Liz two years after that," He said. "Our family's in every house except Slytherin."

"I live with my dad. What's your family like, Teddy?" Mack asked.

"My Mum's an Auror; she's who I get my Metamorphagus abilities from." Hank looked amazed, so Teddy changed his hair from scarlet to gold and back again. "My dad stays at home with me and my little sister, Juniper. Juniper's also a Metamorphagus. She's three," Teddy added.

Soon after, Hank fell asleep. Mack was stretched out on the seat, back against the window, and feet on Hank's lap. Teddy was about to doze off as well, when a woman pushing a cart loaded with chocolate and sweets came to the door.

Before Teddy could even think about getting up, Mack was at the cart, picking out candies. She paid the woman, and turned around and walked back inside the compartment.

Mack poured all the candy next to Teddy, then sat down on the other side of the pile. "Dig in!" Mack announced.

Teddy knew one thing: It had been a good idea to sit with Mack. She hadn't gotten anything that didn't have some sort of chocolate in it.

After ten minutes of eating, Teddy broke the silence. "You remind me of my mum."

Mack looked at him. "I need to meet her so I can find out whether that's a good thing or an insult."

The rest of the ride passed quickly. Mack and Teddy joked around, and Hank slept. At one point, a rodent crawled out of Hank's pocket. Mack told Teddy that it was Steve, Hank's hamster.

"Why does he have a hamster?" Teddy asked.

"His sisters' hamster had babies."

"Oh."

A little while after, the train stopped. Mack woke Hank up. They realized they hadn't changed yet, so Hank and Teddy changed hurriedly standing towards one side, while Mack looked at the other.

"Hank, don't you dare turn around," Mack said whenever he moved the slightest.

"Yeesh."

And so the two second years and the one first year stepped off the train, Mack and Hank going one way, Teddy going another.

-----

Natalie Tena didn't get much screen time, but who have you always pictured as Tonks? Review and share.


	12. School

Sorry I haven't updated for a while. Anyway, I like to think Tonks was in Gryffindor.

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Remus sipped his tea. It was his favorite time of the morning. Dora had gone to work, but Juniper hadn't woken up yet. When Teddy was still at home, he'd be up at this time with Remus around twice a week. It was their special time together. Teddy would ask for stories about Remus's one year of teaching, the war, anything. This morning, however, was Remus's first morning without Teddy even being in the house, save sleepovers at Harry's.

This morning, however, Remus wasn't savoring. He was anxious to get a letter from Teddy. He knew Teddy would be in Gryffindor, he just knew it, but he wanted confirmation.

On the cover of The Daily Prophet was a picture of the staff of Hogwarts, accompanied by an article on the new school year. Remus looked at the picture. The names were listed below. He found the name he was looking for. _Prof._ _Dominic Amend, Defense Against the Dark Arts._ Dominic Amend was a brown haired wizard who smiled from the picture. The article said he was a recent graduate. The teacher from the last few years had left recently. Remus had been interested in finding out who was replacing her.

Remus heard tapping, and looked up. Poke was poking the window with a talon. Remus rushed over to the window to let her in.

Remus untied the letter from Poke's outstretched leg. She flew over to the table and began picking at Remus's unattended toast. Remus began reading the letter.

_Dear Dad, Mum, and Juniper,_

_I'm in Gryffindor! The hat decided really quickly, actually. Anyway, I've got two friends, Mackenzie and Hank. They're in Gryffindor also, and they're both second years. Hank is actually leaning over me as I write this. Okay, he's going up to bed now. Now I'm tired. I'll write tomorrow._

_Love, _

_Teddy_

Remus finished the letter. He quickly found a stray piece of parchment and wrote a reply. He tied it onto Poke's leg. Poke went on her way.

Just as Poke left, Juniper came in. "Daddy, I miss Teddy," She said, hopping up onto her chair. Her hair this morning was bright orange.

"I miss him too. Now, what do you want for breakfast?"

What Juniper wanted for breakfast was always a time consuming question. She would change her mind back and forth.

"Honey Hippogriffs!" Remus went to the cupboard where cereal was kept, knowing it was a lost cause. "No…I want toast, with honey, and the crust cut off."

"Alright," Remus replied.

Remus got the toast, cut the crust off, and spread the honey.

------

After breakfast, Juniper got herself dressed. "Ta-da!" She exclaimed, running into the living room where Remus was sitting.

"You dress yourself better than your Mum does," Remus told her, seeing her purple sweater and corduroys. Juniper giggled. "Teddy sent us a letter this morning," Remus said, reaching for it.

"Oooh! I want to read it!" She said excitedly.

Remus handed her the letter. Juniper couldn't read yet.

Juniper stared at it. "You read it to me."

Remus read her the letter.

"Ooh! I want to be in Gryffindor too!" Juniper exclaimed.

"I bet you will," Remus replied truthfully.

------------------------------

Scarlet haired Teddy wolfed down his sandwich in the Great Hall after History of Magic, during which Teddy had written another letter to his family. His hair had been getting a lot of attention, but Teddy didn't mind. Hank and Mack weren't at lunch yet.

Across from Teddy sat Sean and Paul. They were both in Teddy's year, and had been friends even before Hogwarts. Paul was short and quiet, Sean was… Sean wasn't really anything. He was average height, had a buzz cut so short you couldn't tell what color his hair was, and normal features. He seemed boring to Teddy. He thought they were both alright.

Finally, Mack and Hank came in sat down on either side of Teddy. Mack started gobbling down everything in sight.

"Blimey Mack, slow down, if you keep eating like that, you'll never get off the ground on a broom," Hank said.

"Shut up Hank. Hey, should we start counting again? That makes two then, including when I told you to shut up in Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"What took you guys so long? Oh, and you counted last year?" Teddy asked.

"Professor Amend forgot what time class ended. And seven hundred ninety-three," Mack answered.

"Mack thinks Professor Amend's cuuuuuuuuute," Hank exaggerated.

"Shut up, three."

The threesome left lunch early to go up to the Owlery so Teddy could send his letter.

"Sorry Poke," He said, apologizing to his owl for all the trips she was making. Poke rolled her eyes and flew off in a huff.

"She's scaring Steve," Hank said. "We've got Herbology next, Mack, we should probably get going."

"I've got Defense Against the Dark Arts. How's Professor Amend?" Teddy asked.

"He's really good," Mack said as they walked along. "It's weird seeing him as a teacher though, last year he was a student. A Gryffindor. He even got us stuff from Hogsmeade when we asked him to."

"I almost called him Dom this morning," Hank said. "Mack, we've got to hurry."

"What's Professor Longbottom going to do to us if we're late?" Teddy heard Mack say as she and Hank walked down the stairs. "I doubt he's ever given anyone a detention before."

Teddy walked to the classroom. A few students were milling around the doorway, not sure if they were supposed to go in yet, as there was no teacher in the room. Soon, a brown haired bespectacled wizard came jogging towards them.

"Everyone can go in. Late for my own class," He added.

Once everyone was seated, the wizard introduced himself as Professor Amend, and spent the lesson informing the class of everything they would cover in the upcoming year. When the lesson was over, Teddy headed off to Herbology. He passed an arguing Mack and Hank, who were coming back from it, and waved.

"Hello, Teddy," Professor Longbottom greeted as Teddy entered the greenhouse. "Congratulations on becoming a Gryffindor, though I had no doubt that you would."

"Thanks, Professor," Teddy replied.

The lesson was what all the other teachers had been doing, save Professor Binns who just started droning on, which was going over what the class would be learning over the year.

After class, Teddy met up with a bickering Mack and Hank, and they went to dinner.

_How they became friends, _Teddy thought, _I'll never know._

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Does Teddy remind you of a family member and/or someone else? Share if you review.


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